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CWU Assistant Volleyball Coach Among Best 30 Under 30

The American Volleyball Coaches Association named Chloe Solum, Central Washington University assistant volleyball coach, a Thirty Under 30 Award winner for 2013. The prestigious national award was created in 2009 to annually honor 30 up-and-coming volleyball coaches under 30 years old at all levels of volleyball, including high school, club, and college. Honorees are selected from among nominations made by AVCA members.

Solum, 28, has been part of the Wildcat coaching staff for the past five seasons and is helping build a program that is now gaining a national reputation at the NCAA Division II level, after another appearance in the West Region playoffs last season. Even so, she prefers to stay out of the limelight and focus, instead, on the team’s successes.

“I wouldn’t have received this award if they weren’t successful on and off the court,” says Solum. “I’m more excited that our program is getting some recognition for all the hard work the coaching staff and the players have put in.”

Solum adds the award also validates all of the efforts of the team, including the hours spent in the weight room, at practice, watching film, and preparing for games. She also shares credit for the honor with CWU head volleyball coach Mario Andaya and some of her previous coaches, who have also received the same AVCA recognition.

“I’m really excited because a bunch of coaches that I’ve had have won this award so I think it’s cool because it shows how what they’ve done for me has helped me become successful like them,” Solum adds.

Those coaches inspired her to want to give back to the sport. It’s an opportunity that came about in 2008 after her father, Wayne Quirk, was hired as CWU’s dean of the Office of Graduate Studies and Research.

Solum was a collegiate volleyball standout at North Dakota State University, where she was an outsider hitter between 2003 and 2006. She came to Ellensburg to be closer to her family. She noticed the assistant volleyball coaching vacancy that was posted and applied for it. Andaya found her to be the perfect person for the job, recognizing her as among the bright young coaches coming into the sport. Five years later his opinion hasn’t changed.

“Chloe has bought into the coaching lifestyle,” says Andaya. “She is tireless in her efforts to make sure our program and player needs are constantly met. Chloe’s sense of humor, competitiveness, and overall perspective on life makes me enjoy being around her as a friend and as a coach.”

As for her future plays, Solum says she wants to continue coaching, while helping to create the next generation of coaches for the sport.

“I enjoy coaching at the collegiate level and would like to keep growing as a coach,” she says.